Storage Profiler's new DNS monitor is a near-real-time tool that enables users to monitor DNS hosts for availability. It relies on common TCP commands to monitor the hosts and retrieve statistical data. The DNS monitor can be used for any host, even if it's not a DNS server. The monitor requires no agents on the remote hosts and will display a near-real-time console that shows all the hosts' status via a color-coded table.

The console also displays the trace path information gathered for each host. The DNS monitor is capable of sending email notifications on different formats (e-mail, Web phone, PDA, and pager) for different situations, and can run reports such as hosts uptime/downtime, response times, peak times and trace path information.

Storage Profiler v2.4 is available now. Pricing information and customer references are available on request from the vendor. The application runs on Sun Solaris, Linux, Microsoft Windows NT and 2000, Novell NetWare, Network Appliance, HP-UX, AIX, and Oracle.